I'm an avid reader of The Daily Heller, from Print Magazine. Each day, Mr.Heller delights us with nerdy tributes, comments, information and inspirations from the design world. If you're not a subscriber, it's free, and I recommend taking part.
Yesterday, the Daily Heller mentioned a Sunday New York Times article, When Fear Turns Graphic, written by Michael Kimmelman. The article discusses how Europe is seeing an influx of right-wing poster propaganda to promote anti-Islamic sentiments. In response to this, Heller points out the implicit connection between the anti-Islam posters of today, and the anti-Semitic posters used by the Nazi party in the first half of the last century.
You can read Heller's original blog here.
I personally hold the opinion that not all beliefs deserve respect- especially when they encourage an unapologetic amount of violence towards critics and perceived disobedience. A modern example would be Sharia law, which charges that female rape victims are subject to punishment for adultery- wherein the rape victims can be executed by stoning. Surely we all agree that such a misguided and horrific principle is one that does not merit tolerance.
That said, the juxtaposition Heller points out between Nazi propaganda & that of the Swiss People's Party and other European outlets, is an interesting one. These pieces were all designed so that people will respond without thinking.
At one point are we standing up and saying that violence and oppression within a dogma is NOT acceptable in our societies, and at what point do we become manufacturers of fascist propaganda?
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It's an interesting question. In the United States we are brought up to believe that the freedom of religion must not be questioned and yet there is an element within Islam that would justify the belief that the life of a woman is of less value than that of a man. When 40% of Muslims in Britain support sharia law (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1510866/Poll-reveals-40pc-of-Muslims-want-sharia-law-in-UK.html), which robs women of their autonomy, we must realize that we are not dealing with a fringe element. There are fears of a Muslim invasion that seeks to subvert European culture and, let's face it, they are well justified by both the actions of Muslims in European and Muslim nations, and the lack of serious reproach and condemnation from Muslim governments and religious leaders within Muslim communities.
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